Bradley wants cell phones on in case of emergency

Cell phones have typically been a classroom no-no, but Bradley University is asking its faculty and staff members to keep them turned on in class to ensure student safety.

Kevin Sampier

Cell phones have typically been a classroom no-no, but Bradley University is asking its faculty and staff members to keep them turned on in class to ensure student safety.

In an e-mail sent Tuesday to employees and students, Bradley President Joanne Glasser said a new change in policy requires all faculty and staff members to keep their cell phones on while in class or designate a student to keep a cell phone active.

That way they can receive emergency text messages from the university in case of danger, whether it's a natural disaster or a man-made one.

"This policy is being instituted so that every classroom in every building will have access to the university text messaging system whenever a class is in session," Glasser said in the e-mail. "With the tragic experiences at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois (University), we all know that such incidents can happen anywhere, at any time."

The messaging system was started last year at Bradley and allows the school to send an emergency text to the cell phones of people who voluntarily sign up for them.

Class was back in session Wednesday on Bradley's campus.

Spokeswoman Kath Conver said the system has been tested several times but has been used only once for an actual message when heavy snow cancelled classes in February.

"It's another platform to keep the university community informed when there's an emergency," said spokesman Shelley Epstein.

Since its implementation, 6,587 people have signed up for the emergency text messages, he added.

The school also has increased its security in other areas, including indoor and outdoor public address systems, additional lighting, a call-in telephone information line and e-mails.